14 days

twenty // day 13

[please vote and comment! it would mean a lot to me! warning: your feelings will probably be all over the place in this chapter and there is very very mild smut]

"I just want to say that if they thought that putting two teenagers in the same tent alone in the wilderness would help teach one of them to have a better attitude at school and follow the rules of the contract, they've gone crazy." I comment, leaning back into the car seat, as we near the destination.

"Follow the rules of the contract?" Ashton asks, and I look at him. He's smirking.

"What?"

"Are you suggesting we make out in the tent?"

I make a face. "Why do all boys think like that?"

"I also want to say I'm not a teenager."

"Twenty-one is close enough."

"That's like saying an eleven year old is a teenager."

"No it's not."

"Yes it is. Nineteen is the last teenage year. Twenty-one is two years after that. Thirteen is the first teenage year. Eleven is two years behind that."

"Okay, whatever, it's still different. Like how a fifty and a fifty-five year old together sounds fine, but a twelve and a seventeen year old isn't."

"No, you're wrong, Zara."

"No, I'm not."

"Unfortunately, you've lost the game."

"What game?"

Ashton shrugs. "I don't know, but I know you lost."

I roll my eyes.

Ashton pulls up to our campground and it's shaded underneath a circle of trees.

"It's nice." I say.

Ashton nods, getting out of the car, and I follow. "We have to hurry." He calls out. "It's getting late out."

The two of us go to the trunk and he takes the tent while I take the other essentials we packed.

He unzips the bag the tent is in and sets it on the ground. Then he scratches his head. "I don't know how to set up a tent."

"And you say I'm the stupid one."

"When did I say that?"

"It was obvious that whoever got stuck doing this program was stupid. I'm sure they let you know that." I say, grabbing a stone and taking out the metal sticks to hammer the corners of the tent onto the ground. 

Ashton takes the stone from me and starts hammering them into the ground. He doesn't answer me until all of them are secure.

"Sure they did, but teachers don't know anything, Zara. You're just trying to live your life the way you want to, because you only got one chance and you were born knowing nothing could stop you. I really admire that."

I don't really know what to say, and he sees that, as he tries setting up the rest of the tent. I grab the middle of the tent so he can slide the sticks in between the fabric. At last, the tent is set up.

I grab the bags of clothes and food and slide them inside the tent.

I climb in and take off my shoes, and Ashton does the same.

He starts pumping up the air mattress as I huddle in the corner and he joins me, wrapping his arms around me and planting a kiss on my head.

"You're a beautiful misunderstanding." He whispers.